"
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
591 (2) scrapliiin.
(li) ofiiiiiin.
(4) all
the
an]j;els (if
power,
jinncipalilifs, (G)t)ic KIcct One (Messiali), and (7) th(! (cli'meiitaiy) powers of the earth anil the water. ('))
They
endowed with seven
are
more than
aiiL'elic
virtues
— one
as(ril)ed to the Messiah (ilii(/. Ixi. after Isa. xi. 2): "In the spirit of faith, of wisdom, of patienee, of nierey, of jiidiiinent, of peaee. and of is
goodness they
may
name
the
jrlorify, sayin;;: Blessed is He, and of the Lord of spirits he ble.ssed for '
ever and ever.'
A
parallel to tliis is offered by the Testaments of the I'atriarehs in Test. Levi, iii., where this de.seriplion of the seven heavens is given: • In the hiche.st (if wlili-li clwi'llcth the treat (iiory In the Holy of Hiilles. luid tM-neiilh it are the unirels nf the presence of the l^>r<l, who utjiil^ier and inake propitiation to the I,orfl forall the lunomnee of the rltrhteoiis. . . . And In the heaven tielow this are the anjrels who hear the answers to the antrels uf ihe presence of the Loril. ami in the lieaven ne.xt to iliis are thrones and dominions in which hymns are offered to (Jod in the third heaven there are hosts of the annles ordainerl for the day <if Judirment, to w^irk venfreanc-e on the spirits (.»f deceit and of" Belial ; the second lias lire, snow, and ice ready, all the spirits of retrllmllfpn for the day of jndirment : and the lowest is gloomy because it is near the iniquities of men."
In another vi.sion (il/id. viii.) Levi sees seven men in •white raiment, the seven archangels, each consecraliiin and iincsting him with some insignia of priesthood; while .Slichael, the angel who intereedeth for the nice of Israel," opens the gales of heaven for him. where he sees the holy Teni])le and the .Most High upon a throne of glory {ihiil. v.). In the Slavonic Book of Enoch, wi-ilten a little before the beginning of the coinmon era. Ihe lieavenly hierarchy is still more fully
ting
'"
llic
The Slavonic
developed. Enoch, laken up by two angels of liery apiiearance (Sliemiel
Enoch.
and Ha/.iel, ...viii. (i). sees in Ihe third heaven the sun and the stars (i. 5). the former surrounded by phenixes and other winged creatures and attended by 400 (Version B. lo.OOO) angels, who take olf his crown each evening to bring it to the Lord, and set it upon his head again each morning (xiv. 2, ;i; compare I'irkc H. El. vi.); in Ihe fourth heaven he sees hosts of angels armed (for judgment), while serving God with cymbals and singing. In the tifih he sees the watchers, four orders, in grief over their fall<-n fellow angels, but still singing, at his monition, and sounding four trum-
praise of the Lord. In the sixth heaven legions of angels more resplendent than the sun, Ihe archangels set over the siin, Ihe stars, Ihe seasons, the rivers, the vegetation, the living things, and the .souls of men. with seven phenixes (seinphiinV), seven cherubim, and seven six wiiige<l creatures (hayyot?) in the miilsl of them, sing with one voice, indescriliably bi'autifiil, while rejoicing before the Lord. And linally, in the seventh heaven; jiets
"
I
in
saw a very en*al liff hi, and all lite llt*ry hosts of jrreat an-liand lncor]Min*al ixiwers, and lonlships. an<l principaland dominions, chernlilm and s«'niphlni, thn»n4>s. and Ihe
antrel.s,
ities,
watclifuln«->s of nianv eyes (ofanirn). Ii'U troops ac4-onlln(f to their ntnk. Day and nlirht wllhont ceasing they ttluu : 'Holy, holy, holy, I^trd (ohI of Sjihaoth, heaven and earth are full tif
Thy
|s<ime versions have hen- lnler|iolali'd Ihi' eli;lilli irloiy heaven, lna//jdot, with Ihe twelve sl^ns of the zodiac; the ninth heai-n, kokabiin, the heavenly homes of ihi- twelve sltrns of Ihe zodlai-; and the tenth heaven.) 'I'hls Is 'antliol-, where I !
'
saw Ihe face of the l.onl like Iron liurni in llii' lire I'mlltlnu sparks— wontlerfnl heyond words and the ^n-at throne of (lal.oni not made liy liunds, and hosts of chinililin ami seniphlm anuind lllm."
(For Ihe thrones, principalities, dominions, and powers, compare Col. i. 1(1; i;ph. i. 21; Uom. viii. !5S; 1 I'eter, iii. 22; and the " I'rieres des Falaslms." ed. Halevy, p. 20, Pari.s, 1N7T), With this corresponds Ihe nbbinicn1 Iradilion as given by Hablii Mcir of the second century in
Hag. ii.
12i,
AV
Angelology "Ag. Tau."
n. X., A. 37 (see Bacher,
().5).
"There are seven tieavcns one aliove the other: 111 Velon [Latin, vctuin, "curtain "1, which is nlled up and down to enable the sun to po in and out : ai-conlini; to TViB Rotran I^- ^'- -- "He stietched out the heavens as acurtain': (2i Itakfa. Iheptacewhere ihe.sun, xleavens moon, and stars are ll.xed [(ien. i. 17] : (;ii SheImklm, in which are the millstones to (jrind in the [••<'iii/i.s. xlx.TJ:(4IZebul,the upper .Icnisjilem, with Its Temple, In which Michael offers the Sioiillce al the altar [Isa. Ixlii. l.">; I Kln|.'s. vlll. i;i( ; (.5t Ma'on. in which dwell the classes of ininisterini; antrela who slnir by nlirht and are silent by day. for the honor of Israel who serve the Uinl In dayliine [Deiit. xxvl. l.'i. I's. xlli.il]: IB) Makon. In which are the treasuries of snow and hail, the chambers of dew, rain, and mist behind dt.nrs of lire [1 Kiri^rs, vil, ;jll; Dcut, xxvlli. V~] : i7) 'AnilMd. where jiisiice and ritrhteousness, the tivjisures of life and of blessing, the souls of ihe righteous and the <lew ctf resurrection are to lie founil. There are the ofaiilm. the .sentphim. and the hayyot of holiness, the minisler;' inir anifels and the thnme of (.'lory and over them is enthroned the ^fl'eat Kintr" 'see Ps. Ixviii. 5).
iuB oBveu
I
Maimonide.s, in his "
Yad ha-Hazal>ah, Yesode
ha-
Torah," ii., counts ten ranks of angels, beginning from the highest (1)
Hayyot
I2|
ofaniin
CO
arelim [=>N1(< from
d'^!*"^?',
Isa.
xxxill. 7]: (4) ha.shmalllm [Ezek. 1.4], explained in' itiic. V.H) as hayyot, who are siuiietlmes silent [Ita^li]^ and who so'metlriies s|H'ak [/mi/M| - Uiey are sili-nt when Ihe word emanates from
He they speak when he has cea.sed seniphim Oli malaklm, "anijels": (71 elohlin orKodlv belncs; (Si liene Klohim. " .sons of IokI" ; (9) cherubim, "like hi nine youth." Karabla [Hair, l.ll,]: (10) Ishliu, "manlike beliiL's" [Dan. x. .'i]. See Kapoport on Maimonides* "Maiiiiiar lia-Viluid." cd. Stelnschneliler, p. Hi; .lelllnek, "Bclthe Holy one, bli-s-ed be siM'akiiiK:
(•">)
/iir Kaiiba'la," p, 01,
Iriik'e
Malmuui's."
The
p.
I
note; Baeber. " Bibclexefiese Mo-ses
til).
cabalists (Zohar, E.xodus, 43) Iiave a different
list:
Arelim, with Michael as chief; 12) ishlm, with Zephaniah Wi bene Klohim. with Hotnlel as chief (4) malaklm, as chief: i.'ii Imshmalliin. wllli Haslimal as chief Itf) larshishlm. with Tarshlsli as chief [after Dan. x.ti; see Hul.ill/i]; (7) shlnannim. with Zadkiel as chief [after Ps. Ixvlll'. Is]; (») cherubim, with Cheriib as i-lilef d*) ofanim, with Itapbael as chief (10) sentphim, with Jehoel as chief. (1)
as chief:
with
I'rlel
Still more elaborate is the description of the seven heavens with their angelic chiefs, and of the twelve degrees of angels instead of ten, in "Sodc I{aza," (luoted in Yalk. Heiibeni to Gen. i. 1. In ".Maseket -Vziliit" the ten ranks of angels are given in the following order: (ll Seniphlin, wilh Shemuel [ Kemuell or Jehoel as chief; (2) ofanim. with Uaphael and (tfaniel as chiefs Cli cherubim, with Chi-rublel as chief; Mi shlnannim. with Zedektel and Cabrlel as chiefs: i.'ii tarslilslilm. with Tarshish and Sabriel as chiefs; (Ii) ishlm. with Zephanlel as chief: (7l IliLshmalllin. w-|llt Hashlnal asi-hlef; tsi iii;iUiklm. wilh Tzzlel as chief: dM bene 'Klohim, lOi arelim, wllh .Michael as chief, w nil l.lofniel as chief The.se tti-e the ten archanirels that wen-createil llrst and over them Is set Meta1n>n-Kn(K-h, tntusfornttsl from llesli and blood
I
into IhtmliiK
lire!
Of the vaslness of the armies of heaven the folis given by K, Simon b. Lakish:
lowing description
" There an- twelve maxzalot [" signs of the zodiac "], each having thirty armies; eiu-lt ai-my, thirty camps [N"^:23J = casinth each camp, thirty h'lrions (compare Malt. xxvl. .>!) each letrion, thirty cohorts: each coliorU lltlrlv corps [i-oiin>are Kntuss, " Lelinworter." s.r. I>-"^1: anil each corps has :{(fc>,000 utyrlads of stars eninisted to It" (Ilenich, :C.*/ii, "When Moses went up In the cloud to heaven, Keniuel. the Janitor of the ilrsi mite, with 12.1)00 anirelsof deslructlon tinder .s he arrived al the lilm. went lo sirlke him. but succuntlH'd. stH-ond tfale. Iliulraniel, who exceeded Ihe fonner tiOO,ooo parasamrs In lenirth, came with his ilarls of lire to smite him. bui (kmI liiterfereil. Kliially. ItecaiiK' to the pn'i'Incis of Sitndalfon, the anuel who low-ers alMive the n-st by the leiarih of .'it"! years' jonrni'V. and who when standint; on eai-|h niiches with ills heati up to Ihe ha wot siandlmr lN>hlnil Ihe heavenly chariot, he weaves cn'wusfor Ihe Most lll(tli. While all ihi' laisis of heaven slitir, ' Befon'hls llri lllexsed Ik' ilieirlorvof Ihe l>onl fnuii lllsplao'.' even llailninlel tn'inbletl but Mosi-s |ni.s.sisI hint also, the I/ml Then Most's came to the stream of lln> w Itlch sitleldlim hint ctiitsumes even Ihe atmels; and (oMlcattsisI hint lo iMuss Ihrotiffh linscalhisl. Nexl latiie llnllzur |" ItevealiT of the l(ivk"|. also calleil Ita/lel ("The Secn'l of liixl "1, or Aknizlel V^n = «iipf{ "lite herald of lio«r'),llie anirel who spreads his wliiKsuver (ho
